Kindred Titles
Prestige is an important element within Camarilla society, especially for the canonical Ventrue clan. The Kindred of Caerleon are very much caught up in grandeur and intruige. The Caitiff to the west in Cardiff might have fallen into anarchy but in Newport there is a very clear social class system based on several factors including generation, age and influence over both humans and other vampires. The most powerful, high-status Kindred in the city is Prince Idrus ap Rhodri. He is played by the HST as are two of his childer for story purposes. However, the rest of the City Elders are ViP and available to talented, active players. There are also going to be lots of opportunities for players to create thier own potentially powerful and prestigious characters and replace existing Elders over time. Players can also take the other extreme and play Caitiff, vampires who defy the Prince and his Primogen to struggle as best they can in a very hostile world. However, such characters are at greater risk of being killed than others, especially if they continue to reject the precepts of "traditional" vampire culture. Kindred Ranks Rank 0 (Caitiff or Fledgling): In Wales, a vampiric sire typically has only 1-2 fledglings at a time and keeps them under his mentorship for 50 years. During this time, it is the sire that is held accountable for anything the fledgling does that risks the Masquerade or otherwise disrupts the Traditions. The fledgling has no civil rights or priviledges; it can be as nutured or tortured as its sire sees fit. The Elders only care if the sire's pampering or abuse lead to the fledgling becoming an embarrasment or worse- a threat. Prince Idrus, by example, is considered an "indulgent sire" by his own peers. He has not Embraced another in over a hundred years, however. A Caitiff is considered an outcast, vermin. They can be killed on sight within city limits by any Master or Elder vampire though sometimes they are delivered to the Sheriff or the Prince instead. Caitiff can be vampires who are Embraced without permission, who rebel against their sires, who wander into the domain without permission or are declared criminals by the Prince and a Blood Hunt is declared against them. Diabolism is a crime that will cause even a respected Kindred in Newport to be struck to caitiff and hunted. Rank 1 (Neonate): Neonates typically are young vampires that have only been released by their sires and accepted as citizens of the domain for less than a hundred years. If a vampire is still a neonate but older than 150 years, they have usually done something to lose a lot of status and generally disliked and distrusted by the Prince in a significant way. Demotions to the rank of neonate is a sanction that the Prince might subject a vampire to who has committed a serious crime but possibly accidentally or through extenuating circumstances. This vampire might have a patron of some kind in the Primogen who begged for leniency. Normally, however, a vampire who buys the background Age 1 gets Rank 1 automatically or vice versa. Anything done differently needs a really good story behind it that staff needs to approve. Rank 2 (Ancilla): Ancilla are usually vampires who survived their first century of independence, which is no easy feat. Maurading lupines, the oppressive nature of Prince Idrus' regime, personal despair in the face of the burden of immortaliy- only about 25% of the region's neonates evolve into ancilla. Ancilla vampires are allowed by the Prince to embrace a fledgling of their own, usually only once or twice per century unless they earn another as a boon. Ancilla can also petition the Prince for a small personal domain (usually their haven and other acquired property) and if they do in a strategic and diplomatic way, they normally get it. Normally, a vampire who buys the background Age 2 or Rank 2 gets the other automatically but they have to acquire a haven (sanctum) and domain (holding) separately. Rank 3 (Master): Master vampires have more prestige than Ancilla but lack the age and influence of the Elders of Wales. In the US, they'd probably be recognized as Elders but Wales has a very old and very linear vampiric culture and so there exists this middle rank outside of pure canon. About 33% of the region's ancilla are likely to become regarded as Master vampires. They are generally known to the Prince and Primogen by name and would not have survived so long if they weren't well-regarded within one of the domain's factions. Master vampires have usually possessed and released several childer of their own; they might even have thier own "coterie" or "coven" of childer and grand-childer. They almost always have a personal domain of some kind and typically "tithe" to the prince and his court in way of succulent herd or other viable resources. Master vampires can be a neonate's worst nightmare or most valuable ally; they tend to have appreciatably better resources than neonates and get more curious and/or bored than Elders. They've also been around long enough to have built up considerable allies and enemies within the local Kindred and do some of the most heated politicking and shadow wars in the region. Players -can- buy Rank 3 for a vampire who is only 300-500 years old (Age 2); this is the last rank available without a character starting as a ViP. Rank 3 can also be earned via long-term roleplay for a character who is at least 300 years old. Otherwise, Rank 3 is usually provided automatically with Age 3 for ViPs unless the character was created to be lower rank from some kind of disgrace or past misdeed. Rank 4: Elder About 50% of the region's Master Vampires endure to become Elders. At the start of the chronicle, there are only six "true" elders in the Newport domain; Jevon Conway is often given the title by lesser vampires but lacks the actual age and prestige to be acknowledges as such by the rest of the Primogen. Of these six Elders, two were sired by the Prince and the other four were sired by the other Princes of Wales. Very few Elder-level Kindred exist in Wales who are not the direct progeny of the Princes or Mithras himself and all of them are well-hidden (and not part of the starting chronicle). Elders have often spent at least a few decades if not centuries in torpor; they have very anachronistic ways and often several derangements, curses and powerful allies and enemies among the rest of the supernatural world. They are meant to add flavor to the chronicle and give player characters objects of fealty and fear. Even when they dislike or despise each other, very rarely do they take direct action against each other. They do however enjoy using the younger Kindred like chess pieces either to compete with each other or simply as exercises in art and political theory. Elder vampires in Wales should be at least 500 years old and can up to 2000 years old (Age 4-Age 5). Rank 5: Prince There are only 5 Princes in Wales; Indrus is the youngest at a mere 1150 years (and he was a ghoul for more than a century before that) and by comparison with the others, a humble 7 generations removed from Caine. His opportunity for "advancement" came in the 1200s when the Brujah known as Rhys of Tregaron destroyed the Ventrue Baroness Seren of Glouchester. He helped his sire Prince Rhodry ap Gerant and "great-uncle" Prince Marcus Verus hunt down Rhys of Tregaron. The two of them divided Seren's former holdings and gave the Glamorgan-Gwent region to Indrus because was the proper combination of ambitious + loyal to serve their needs. Should Prince Indrus be destroyed or overthrown, the other Princes would swoop down (or send their sharpest minions to do so) and set up one of their own childer as Prince or else divide Gwent between Melyn-Goch and Marcus Verus. This is one of the big factors that keeps Myfawny and the Shadow Court from assassinating a "conveniently ambivalent" Prince- its doubtful they'd enjoy as much liberty and free reign should the more puritanical Princes of the North become involved in the domain. Status Status is a trait that goes hand-in-hand with titles. Normally, vampire characters don't buy status; its granted through roleplay. Sometimes ViPs or even player characters can have higher than basic status for story purposes; this can be quickly revoked should said Kindred do something to outrage the Prince. Status is granted exclusively by Indrus for his domain. Usually he grants high status to powerful kindred who impress or even intimidate him. One's status is something that the other Kindred of the Domain quickly figure out and gossip about if that becomes relevant. Status 0: Criminal (gain Clan Emnity flaw) Caitiff vampires have no status in the city- and therefore no rights, including the right to exist in peace. They are not recognized as "Clan" and called "Clanless" Indrus doesn't pursue Caitiff into Cardiff; whatever is there and using it as its personal hunting grounds is something that the Prince and his Primogen don't talk about and avoid at all costs. Caitiff can therefore hide in Cardiff during the day and then venture northward when they have cause. Of course, there's no guarantee they won't get caught by one of the other factions and get killed... or worse. Status 1: Presented Childe Fledglings were chosen by their sires and usually groomed as ghouls for a minimum of a were before their first presentation to the Prince, the one in which Indrus decided whether or not to grant permission for the Embrace. As soon as this permission is granted, the character obtains the status of childe even if the Embrace isn't immediate. Its understood that no other vampire should cause the individual any lasting harm and that they "belong" to their sire in all tangible ways. Its possible for two vampires to vie for the priviledge of siring someone; the Prince will chose between them based on some kind of personal (and rarely altruistic) criteria. How much "slack" the childe is given by the Prince and Primogen often depends on the status and prestige of its sire. Status 2: Recognized Neonate After completing time as a protected childe, the young vampire is presented to the Prince a second time. If this goes successfully, the fledgling is "recognized" by the Prince after swearing oaths of fealty to him and fidelity to the Traditions. They are released from their sire, usually at a party in Elysium held in their honor. Vampires from other domains can also petition for recognition with the Prince. This is usually done first by correspondence or via a ghoul emissary; the Prince has someone investigate the petitioner's background and if satisfied, sends either the Herald or the Templar to collect them and bring them to Court for formal presentation. Sometimes an unrecognized vampire in crisis will blindly run to a Master or Elder in the domain and throw themselves on their mercy in the hopes they will interceed with the Prince on their behalf: this is actually the most successful way for a caitiff (especially those Embraced without permission or running from an insane sire from another domain) to gain status and a reprieve from death. Status 3: Reputable Having a good reputation with the Prince comes from consistently impressing him with a hard to define combination of initiative and loyalty. It can take years: vampires are immortal even if their players are not. Reputation of this sort is easier to lose than keep; players -can- ask to start new characters with status 3 but if said character dissapoints ICwise, they'll lose it and drop down to the recognized masses. Status 4: Prestigious The Primogen all have status of prestigious with the Prince. Three are his own childer; the others have earned his trust and regard- most of them long before he abandoned Cartiff and the Glamorgan region to Melyn-Goch. If he didn't want them around, he'd find excuses to send them elsewhere in the UK. Indrus has a higher tolerance for members of his Primogen debating or quarreling with him than he does with lesser vampires, as long as they pick the time and place for their battles wisely. If he ever felt genuinely betrayed or threatened by them, however, he would find a means to get rid of them-- it has happened in the past and part of the reason that vampires as young as Bartholomew Roberts, Jevon Conway and Winifred Talog are able to serve as nominal Elders of the City. It is very possible for player characters to become Primogen as the chronicle develops. Status 5: Prince of Wales This status is afforded to Indrus only to himself and those who rule the other nearby "kingdoms" such as his own sire Rhodry ap Geraint and Lady Anne Bowesley. Status 6: Methuselah & Other Legends Mithras has godlike powers that will not be brought into the chronicle. However, he is often mentioned in reverence by the Prince and the other Elders. Most of them had personal -and positive- relations with him. He is worshipped by the Princes of Wales who are more incredulous of Gehenna prophecies than a lot of other vampires, probably because of their long association with Mithras. How Status Works For Kindred Status works for Kindred must like the Purebreed background for Garou. For every dot of status that a vampire possesses, they gain one dice to all social-based rolls with other Kindred or ghouls as the target. This includes Disciplines like Presence. The Vampires of the Newport domain are ingrained to take status seriously; Caitiff automatically possess the flaw Clan Emnity which not only doesn't provide status dice, it subtracts 2 from all social dealings with the Ventrue. A lucky caitiff might be able to put a bullet into Prince Idrus' head as a "political statement" and act of martyrdom, of course. go to the Main Vampire Page